Local brewery bringing a bit of the pub home
9 WHITE DEER TEAMS UP WITH BELGIAN COMPANY TO HELP OUT PINT LOVERS
AS we face a Summer without pubs – or pubs as we know them– a Múscraí Gaeltacht brewery has come up with a plan which might bring it all back home for their customers.
9 White Deer, the Baile Mhic Íre based company which produces a range of gluten free stouts, ales and lagers, has linked up with a Belgian company which will give the pint lover the means of having his or her favourite frothy beverage in the comfort of their own home.
The link between the Gaeltacht brewery and Belgian home keg company, iKegger, means that lovers of the Baile Mhic Íre brews can get a discount when buying the iKegger equipment, ideally a 10 litre keg which contains around 20 pints and a tap, and then get the keg filled and refilled with their favourite 9 White Deer beer.
“We come from an engineering background and our instinct is to try and fix and work around issues,” said Gordon Lucey, the brewery co-founder with Don
O’Leary, proprietor of The Mills Inn in Baile Mhúirne.
“We realise people are missing the pub and while we can’t reproduce the pub atmosphere, we’re trying to offer them a taste of the pub by making it possible for them to get draught beer or stout.”
The plan is now to release a series of videos on the company’s social media platforms explaining how to get the equipment, set it up and operate it safely and enjoyably.
The 10 litre keg plus tap comes in at a cost of €199 but that reduces to €180 thanks to the discount negotiated by Nine White Deer. To get the keg filled then costs around €68 plus VAT – approximately €80. This gives you 20 pints at €4 each, roughly €1 per pint cheaper than the pub, making this option a worthwhile long term investment.
“We’ve just come up with this offer and it will be interesting to see how it goes – obviously it’s all contingent on how the virus is sorted and when pubs re-open – as I’ve said, this is not replacing the pub, merely giving people a bit of the flavour of the pub experience,” said Gordon.
“But it is the Summer and it is barbecue season so people might think it’s worth their while.”
Meanwhile, the brewery is doing its bit to help counter the spread of the virus. It’s already providing free surface sanitiser from the rear of its premises in the Údarás na Gaeltachta factory complex in Baile Mhic Íre but now it’s also producing and delivering hand sanitiser to help everyone battle the virus.